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Strip: Ministry of Waxing’s Hairylin Monroe

The first in a series of Marilyn Monroe inspired illustrations for Strip Shanghai, a global, award-winning waxing salon headquartered in Singapore.

With China not (yet) being as progressive a market as Singapore or the west, the franchise owner wanted to create a new campaign that was more literal, and featuring a known personality. Marilyn Monroe, who’s adored by most Chinese, fit the bill perfectly.

For this first illustration in a three or four part series, I took the iconic skirt-blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch movie and adapted it for the campaign. Adding leg hair and giving her a mortified expression, I handpainted it in gouache before scanning and cleaning it up in Photoshop.

I also came up with the campaign name of Marilyn or Hairylin?, which will be headlining every poster in the series. The others will follow later this year.